Speed, skill help young Cox Mill team compete

Not much was expected of Cox Mill athletics this year - the school's first.

And that has been the case for most of its teams. In the big three sports - football, boys' basketball and baseball - the school has recorded only seven combined wins, four of which have come in the past month on the baseball field.

But a notable exception has been the Chargers' girls' soccer squad, which not only has a winning record, at 12-3, but is also third in the South Piedmont Conference and in prime position for a spot in the 3A state playoffs.

"We're proud of ourselves," said Cox Mill girls' soccer coach Christa Mooney. "We're happy to be in the situation we're in and glad we can represent the school."

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The team only has five juniors on its roster and depends mostly on sophomores and freshmen.

Leading Cox Mill are three former Northwest Cabarrus players, junior Mollie Calloway and sophomores Kaylee Akers and Denay Hayden.

Akers said not having much experience puts some stress on her and her young teammates.

"We have to work so much harder than other schools," she said. "But we've been lucky to have talented freshmen.

The Chargers start five of them, led by left midfielder Logan Long.

"It's exciting," Long said about the opportunity to get significant playing time.

Mooney said her team is well-rounded from top to bottom.

"That's what makes us good - we don't just have one or two scorers," she said. "It's not just one player, which makes it hard for other teams to shut us down."

Mooney explained that what the team lacks in maturity, they make up in enthusiasm.

"They're eager to get out there and play," she said.

The Chargers' only three losses have come against the top two SPC teams, Northwest Cabarrus and Jay M. Robinson, and to West Rowan, which is ranked 15th in the state. Northwest Cabarrus is ranked 10th.

Mooney said she's been most impressed by how her team has bonded after most of her players had not played together.

Although the core of the team came to Cox Mill from Northwest Cabarrus, this group has also had to get used to playing with freshmen and girls from other districts.

The way the Chargers have performed has been even more impressive considering they haven't had much practice time, having to play three times a week.

"You can't really do too much in practice, except to take it light and get ready for the next game," said Mooney.

The fourth-grade Cox Mill Elementary teacher explained that her team has been watching game tape in an effort to get better.

Mooney's goals when she first took the job were not as lofty as they are now. She just hoped to make the program competitive in their inaugural season, knowing she wouldn't have any seniors.

Her expectations soon changed as she started to get acquainted with the talent coming into the brand-new school. But she didn't want to get too confident.

"I didn't know any of them personally and didn't know what we were going to get as far as freshmen," she said. "A lot of them were concerned that we wouldn't even have enough people to field a team."

But interest in the sport was high, and Mooney was able to form a varsity and a JV team.

Mooney said she hasn't been surprised by how her team has done although others have been. Long is one of them.

"I didn't think we were going to be that good, but we turned out a lot better than I thought," she said.

The first-year high school coach said her team was being overlooked at the beginning of the season, but that has started to change.

Regardless of what happens the rest of the season, the future is bright for the Chargers.

"We can only go up from here - none of us are graduating so we'll be even better next year," said Akers.